Tour of the Gila hits downtown Silver City Saturday

SILVER CITY - Silver City spectators and business owners are gearing up for another Downtown Criterium and Expo on Saturday as part of the 27th annual Tour of the Gila.

While most of the event takes place in the surrounding national forest areas, Saturday's Downtown Criterium brings the action to downtown, changing Bullard, Broadway and other downtown streets into a racetrack. As these streets make up most of the downtown business district, business owners are getting into the action with the Downtown Expo, a day of music, food, and art to take advantage of the tourist crowds.

The Tour races of the day will begin at 8 a.m. and run throughout the day until the last pro race finishes around 6 p.m.

According to Tour co-director Michelle Geels, at 12:30 p.m., there will be a break in the race schedule for the community races. These will begin with the adult category, followed by the children's category.

"That's always a blast to come out and see," Geels said. "Kids on bikes and trikes and even scooters."

Street closures

According to the Tour's website, Bullard, College, Cooper and Broadway Streets will be closed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Traffic may gain entrance into the course via Santa Rita Street, 7th Street or Arizona Street. Texas Street is an exit point. Do not park cars on the course after 6 a.m.

With all this activity and streets closed, organizers thought that even residents may get confused. So, they've drawn a map.

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"One good thing we have this year is a little pocket guide with schedules for the races and events and a map to show where visitors can enter and exit the closed course," Geels said. "It has good spots to take photos, too, and where the portapotties are - which is always important. We look forward to getting some feedback on those this year."

Food, drink, music, fun

Alongside the races, both Tour and community, will be the Downtown Expo, organized by the Silver City MainStreet Project.

"We began this partnership a few years ago," Geels said. "They used to do a Festival of the Spring and it was so close to the Tour of the Gila that we just combined forces."

The Expo will include a beer garden with drinks from the Little Toad Creek Inn and Tavern's new brewery and distillery in the Mimbres Valley and High Desert Brewing Company from Las Cruces. This is the first year for Little Toad Creek's microbrewery and distillery business.

"We're really thankful that the organizers of the event leapt at the opportunity," said Teresa Dahl-Bredine, who owns Little Toad Creek Inn and Tavern with her husband Dave Crosley. "Honestly, it's been a struggle to keep up with production of the beers, but we definitely have enough for the race."

The microbrewery will have a stout, an India pale ale, and porter on tap at the event. They will also be mixing and selling cocktails.

"We know we're a little out of the way," Dahl-Bredine said of their Mimbres Valley location. "So hopefully this will be a good way for us to reach those people without them having to come out all this way."

There will also be live music in the lot between Morning Star and the Western Stationers building on Bullard Street. Included will be acts The Oversouls, the LatchKey Kids, the Illusion Band, and Friends of the Underground with guest Brandon Perrault. The Illusion Band and Friends of the underground are presented in coordination with the Grant County Chicano Music Project.

Alongside the taps and tunes will be a food court with food from vendors and restaurants and various booths. Tacos la Palma, Mexico Viejo and several church and student organizations are selling food. Businesses from Cactus Street Pottery to Phil's Knife Sharpening will have booths.

"We've got four bands this year and the beer garden and really we just hope it keeps growing," said Richard Deeton, who helped organize the Downtown Expo with MainStreet.

According to the Tour's website, Bullard, College, Cooper and Broadway Streets will be closed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Traffic may gain entrance into the course via Santa Rita Street, 7th Street or Arizona Street. Texas Street is an exit point. Do not park cars on the course after 6 a.m.

With all this activity and streets closed, organizers thought that even residents may get confused. So, they've drawn a map.

"One good thing we have this year is a little pocket guide with schedules for the races and events and a map to show where visitors can enter and exit the closed course," Geels said. "It has good spots to take photos too and where the portapotties are - which is always important. We look forward to getting some feedback on those this year."

At 7:30 p.m. at the Silco Theater, there will be a screening of the feature-length documentary "Rising from Ashes" about the struggle of putting together a bicycle racing team in post-genocide Rwanda. The film chronicles the team's successes and failures, including their first U.S. race, Silver City's own Tour of the Gila, in 2007. All proceeds will go to Team Rwanda. Team Rwanda's Coach and Technical Director Jonathan "Jock" Boyer will be in Silver City for Saturday's premiere and will host a Questions and Answer session after the film.

On Sunday, the Tour will wrap with the Gila Monster Road Race. Racers will take off from Gough Park between 7:30 and 9 a.m., wind through the Mimbres Valley and finish in Pinos Altos with a ceremony outside the Buckhorn Saloon.

If you go:

What: 27th annual Tour of the Gila Downtown Criterium and Expo

When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday

9 a.m. to noon, College and Bullard Streets - Children's Bicycle Safety Rodeo. There will be different stations with courses that the children have to master in order to pass the course. The objective of each course is to make sure that each child knows how to operate his or her bike correctly

11 a.m. to 6 p.m. - Live music between Morning Star and Western Stationers on Bullard Street:

11 a.m. The Oversouls - local rock and soul

1 p.m. LatchKey Kids - local rock, funk and jam band

3 p.m. Illusian Band

4:30 p.m. Friends of the Underground with Brandon Perrault

11 a.m. to 6 p.m. beer garden, food court and vendors booths

2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Kid Zone at the Silver City Museum. Kids can make a license plate for their bike and play word games on the museum lawn as racers speed by.

8 a.m. to 8 p.m. El Sol Theater, 406 N. Bullard St. "A Room of Stars, a Room of Bones" art show from seven artists whose work reflects their time in New Mexico

7:30 p.m. Silco Theater, "Rising from Ashes" a feature-length documentary about the struggle of putting together a bicycle racing team in post-genocide Rwanda. The film chronicles the team's successes and failures, including their first U.S. race, Silver City's own Tour of the Gila, in 2007. All proceeds will go to Team Rwanda. Team Rwanda's Coach and Technical Director Jonathan "Jock" Boyer will be in Silver City for Saturday's premiere and will host a Questions and Answer session after the film.